In early April, 2014 Capital One launched their Credit Tracker Tool. They have just sent out an e-mail to cardholders that this tool is now called CreditWise. Below are the differences between the two tools:
- CreditWise provides users with a TransUnion VantageScore 3.0 model credit score, the old tool provided them with a TransUnion New Account model
- Scores will be updated weekly instead of monthly
Capital One also stated that they don’t use the score they provide as part of their lending decision. The VantageScore is used by some lenders, but the FICO score dominates the market (it’s used in 90% of lending decisions). I’m surprised Capital One didn’t make the upgrade to FICO given how many other credit card issuers provide free FICO scores. This is doubly true considering that free credit monitoring sites also provide consumers with the same VantageScore capital one is touting, in fact Credit Karma offers this score for both TransUnion & Equifax (Credit.com provides an Experian National Equivalency score) as well as free credit monitoring for those bureaus. In light of this, the Capital One offering isn’t really useful even after these CreditWise updates.
